Robert Steiner

Robert Steiner

Biography

Robert Steiner is Director of the Fellowship in Global Journalism at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. The Fellowship is a post-graduate training program in global journalism for journalists with advanced knowledge of complex disciplines.

Mr. Steiner began his career as a global finance correspondent for The Wall Street Journal with postings in New York, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Robert won two Overseas Press Club awards, the Inter-American Press Association Award, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. After leaving The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Steiner received his Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He then worked as a business strategy executive at The Boston Consulting Group, and later as Group Vice President in charge of Strategic Planning for Bell Media (formerly Bell Globemedia). From 2005 to 2010, Mr. Steiner was Assistant Vice President of the University of Toronto.

Mr. Steiner has also held several senior campaign positions in Canadian politics. In 2002 and 2003, he served as health policy advisor and principal speechwriter for Hon. Paul Martin. In 2000, Mr. Steiner managed the Liberal Party of Canada’s new media campaign in the period leading to and during the federal general election, working for Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.

Keynote Topic:

Organizing for Truth

In the past, activists organized themselves to push for political change. “Truth” itself was taken for granted; no one had to organize to secure truth. But in a world of “alternative facts” and technological bubbles, truth itself is now an issue. The current political debate requires that activists and others who care about democracy – or who care even just about robust conversations of their fields – ensure a baseline of truth. We must do this by combining new technologies and big data to make it possible for us to organize an understanding of truth.